Lords and Peasants
Overview
The rules listed below are complex, and it is not required that the players fully
understand all of the various rules in detail, as the Games Master (who is me (Sir
Gindle)) will handle all of the calculations required for Random Events and dice rolls.
It IS important, however, that the player understand the pluses and minuses of the
decisions they make. The players make all of the decisions, the GM makes all of the
dice rolls.
The Chateau
All lords begin with a Chateau. This Chateau is the manor in which the lord lives. The
Chateau does not take up a Land Square, but is visable on the map. It is usually
located a short distance from the lord’s starting village of two Shelter Squares.
The Chateau has no effect in game terms, except that it may be upgraded to a Keep
(explained later).
Peasant Taxes
Like all lower-class peoples of the medieval world, the peasant folk of Bretonnia pay
taxes to their lords. These taxes are then placed in the treasury of the local lord (who,
in this case, is the player) and are put towards whatever the lord thinks it best to do so
with.
In the "A Lord of Bretonnia" game, the amount of tax that you put your peasantry under
is up to you. Each turn, your subjects will give over a certain amount of their
belongings or income to you. Six different levels of Tax Rates may be chosen, and
range from the overly charitable to the unreasonable. They are listed below:
No Tax: A difficult rate to keep up. Your peasantry grow happy under your
leadership. No Revenue is gained per turn from Tax. However, your Subject’s Loyalty
increases by 3% per turn.
Very Low Tax: More practical than No Tax, but still difficult to sustain for any long
period of time. The player receives 1 Revenue per 16 Townsfolk or Men-At-Arms under his rule. Subject’s Loyalty increases by 2% per turn.
Low Tax: This Tax Rate is common, for it offers a good rate of gains, without taxing
the population much. It is not as beneficial as the higher Tax Rates, however. The
player receives 1 Revenue per 8 Townsfolk or Men-At-Arms under his
rule. Subject’s Loyalty increases by 1% per turn.
Average Tax (Starting Level): The normal Tax Rate for most Bretonnian realms.
Neither loved nor hated, this is the one of the best Tax Rates for beginning lords. The
player receives 1 Revenue per 4 Townsfolk or Men-At-Arms under his
rule. No change in Subject’s Loyalty.
High Tax: Although not cruel, this higher rate of taxation does put many Townsfolk
under a lot of pressure, and makes it a lot harder for them to feed themselves and their
families. Despite all this, it is very good for the lord. The player receives 1 Revenue
per 2 Townsfolk or Men-At-Arms under his rule. Subject’s Loyalty
decreases by 2% per turn.
Very High Tax: This level of tax is highly unreasonable, and forces many out of their
homes and onto the streets. Although massively gainful for the ruling lord, this Tax
Rate breeds contempt and hatred in the populace. The player receives 1 Revenue for
each Townsfolk or Man-At-Arms under his rule. Subject’s Loyalty
decreases by 10% per turn.
Another rule that applies to Peasant Taxes, is that people become distrustful of lords
who change the Tax Rate numerous times in a year (4 Turns). If you ever charge the
Tax Rate more than once per year, you lose 10% Subject’s Loyalty for each Tax Rate
change beyond the first.
Peasant Levy
A lord may, at any time, choose to extract a Peasant Levy from his populace. This
usually occurs when a lord needs a quick increase of Revenue. The tax collectors go
from door to door, collecting a small portion of this additional wealth from each
peasant household. A lord may choose how much to Levy from his Townsfolk, but
each 5 Revenue that he collects reduces Subject’s Loyalty by 1% (so a Levy of 50
Revenue would reduce Subject’s Loyalty by 10%). If Subject’s Loyalty is reduced to
0% or less by the Levy, the Peasants refuse to pay the Levy and a Revolt is started.
However, the population will grow unhappy if they are hit with too many Peasant
Levies. Each time a Peasant Levy is performed beyond the first time, the amount of
Subject’s Loyalty lost per 5 Revenue will increase by 1% (so a 2nd Levy of 50
Revenue would reduce Subject’s Loyalty by 20%, a 3rd Levy of 40 Revenue would
decrease Subject’s Loyalty by 24%, a 4th Levy of 45 Revenue would reduce Subject’s
Loyalty by 36%, and so on).
All Revenue gained by a Peasant Levy is immediately added to the lord’s Revenue
stockpile, so he may use it during the same turn as he performed the Levy.
A lord may perform Peasant Levy as many times as he wishes, but he should be
careful not to anger the population.
Of course, sometimes it is necessary to extract a Peasant Levy from the common-folk
to keep a struggling realm from becoming too far in debt to recover.
Upkeep and Food Consumption
In turn for your Townsfolk paying you the Taxes that you demand, it is your job to
protect them and insure that enough Food Stocks are in supply to feed them.
Each and every Townsfolk, Knight and Man-At-Arms eats 1 unit of Food Stock per
turn (although Rationing (explained below) may change this). If your Food Stocks are
too low to feed your population, your lands will be in the grip of Famine. Famine is
bad, very bad. For every 5 Food Stocks that you were short of feeding your people by,
1 Townsfolk perishes. For every 5 Townsfolk that perish, you lose 1% of Subject’s
Loyalty. At this time, it is necessary to get the problem solved quickly, as prolonged
Famine will cause huge damage to both your subject’s health, and their faith in you as
their lord. Also, no new Townsfolk are generated by natural population growth
(explained later) whilst a Famine is occurring.
Each turn, each of your Shelter Squares, Market Squares, Mining Squares and
Farmstead Squares and some Land Square Upgrades (explained later) costs Revenue
to keep in good repair. This Revenue cost is called Upkeep.
The actual cost of Upkeep depends on how many Shelter, Market, Mining, Farmstead
Squares and Land Square Upgrades you own. If you cannot pay the full amount of
Upkeep, your Shelter, Market, Mining, Farmstead Squares and Land Square Upgrades
fall into Disrepair. Each turn after the first that your buildings are in Disrepair, one
Square will collapse completely, and become a Ruined Square (See Land Squares) as
well as one Land Square Upgrade that requires Upkeep will collapse (and be removed
from the lord’s lands). As soon as you are able to pay the complete amount of
Upkeep, all buildings cease to be in Disrepair.
The peasantry appreciate it greatly if everything they need is available, especially in
the harsh border lands of Bretonnia. Each turn that the player pays all needed Upkeep
and supplies all needed Food Stocks to the people, his Subject’s Loyalty increases by
1%.
Population Growth and Decline
Population numbers very rarely remain static, as they rise with good times and high
crop yields, and fall when times are harsh and food is short. Therefore, each turn, the
population amount will change.
Each turn, 1d6 Townsfolk are added, it is assumed these people were born years ago
and just came of age, and join their fellows in daily life. Also, 1d3 Townsfolk perish
from natural causes. Old age, unfortunate accidents and other ways.
However, the rate of growth may be increased by the presence of available housing.
For every 20 more Townsfolk your realm could hold, 1 Townsfolk is added to the
usual 1d6 Townsfolk added. So, for example, if you had 60 Townsfolk living in two
Shelter Squares (each of which can hold 50 Townsfolk, for a total of 100 Townsfolk)
you would gain 1d6+2 Townsfolk at the beginning of that turn.
Unhappy Townsfolk may decide to up and leave, becoming refugees to other realms
instead of remaining within your province. If your Subject’s Loyalty is 45% or below,
you lose 1 Townsfolk per turn for each 5% you are below Subject’s Loyalty of 50%.
So, for example, if you had 35% Subject’s Loyalty, you would lose 3 Townsfolk per
turn (due to being 15% under 50% Subject’s Loyalty), in addition to the normal 1d3
Townsfolk that you lose.
Population Growth/Decline occurs before Food Stocks are eaten at the beginning of a
turn.
Finally, some Random Events, like Plagues, affect the rate of growth. Every so often,
these Events may stay in effect for many turns.
Rationing
If times are hard, or if Food Stocks are in such supply that a lord is willing to share
the great bounty with his people, a lord may change the Rationing that his people are
given. Only three levels of Rationing are available, and they are fairly simple to
understand. A player may change the Rationing of his populace at any time he wishes.
Each type of Rationing has its uses. Half Rations is good when Food Stocks are too
low to feed all of your people through to the next harvest on normal Rationing, thus
avoiding a Famine. Full Rations is the best choice when you have enough Food Stocks
to feed everyone. Double Rations is a very good choice for those lords with large
stockpiles of Food Stocks, and a population that needs to grow quickly.
Below are listed the three different levels of Rationing:
Half Rations is where people are given the bare minimum of what they need to eat to
survive, but not much more. People fed this amount of food over long periods of time
are malnourished and weakened. When this level of Rationing is in effect, every 2
Townsfolk or Men-At-Arms eat 1 Food Stock per turn, instead of the normal rate of 1
person for 1 Food Stock. Knights (being noble and all) still eat 1 Food Stock each.
The downside of this low amount of Food Stock consumption is that, firstly, the +1%
Subject’s Loyalty per turn for fully feeding the population IS NOT given (people are
none too happy when they are hungry). Secondly, no new Townsfolk are added per
turn from births (so no 1d6 new Townsfolk per turn, 1d3 people still die, however).
Full Rations is the normal extent of Food Stocks eaten per turn, and is the starting
level of Rationing for all estates. The rules for this level of Rationing are exactly as
explained in the Food Consumption and Upkeep rules explained earlier in these rules.
Double Rations is where people are eating enough food, not only to survive, but to be
healthy. Being extremely taxing on the Food Stocks of the charitable lord who
chooses this level of Rationing, it is wise to be sure you can support this level of
Rationing before you choose it. Each Townsfolk, Man-At-Arms and Knight eats 2
Food Stocks each (so 60 Townsfolk, 5 Men-At-Arms and 5 Knights would eat a total
of 140 Food Stocks!).
The large amounts of Food Stocks being eaten does have an upside, however. As
healthy people have more children, and more healthy children survive to adulthood,
the births roll at the start of each Season is increased by 50% when this level of
Rationing is in effect (so a 1 is not increased, a 2 is increased to 3, a 3 is increased to
4, a 4 is increased to 6, a 5 is increased to 7 and a 6 is increased to 9). Also, instead of
1d3 deaths of natural causes per turn, only 1 Townsfolk perishes per Season (so 1
Townsfolk dies per Season, instead of 1d3). In addition, 1d3 Townsfolk move into the
lord’s realm each turn that this level of Rationing is in effect, as word spreads about
the prosperity of the population therein.
Lastly, the +1% Subject’s Loyalty per turn for feeding the populace and paying all
Upkeep is increased to +2% per turn when this level of Rationing is in effect.
Prosperity
People feel happier when their future looks secure and untroubled. Therefore, when a lord's stockpile of Food Stocks reaches 500 Food Stocks and above, the people of the realm are pleased by the surplus food and feel safe knowing that for many Seasons to come they will be well-fed.
In game terms, at the end of every turn where a lord has 500 or more Food Stocks in his stockpile, Subject's Loyalty increases by 1%. This does not apply if Half Rations is the set level of Rationing for that realm, as the people are usually hungry anyway at that level of Rationing. If the set level of Rationing for the realm that has 500 or above Food Stocks is Double Rations, however, this bonus is increased to 2%.
This means, that in conjunction with the Subject's Loyalty bonus for Upkeeping and feeding the population fully of 1% (or 2% for Double Rations), a realm with 500 or above Food Stocks will gain 2% Subject's Loyalty per turn (or 4% for Double Rations) just from the Upkeep and feeding of the realm's people!
Lord Taxes
As your peasantry pay you taxes to you, so you must also pay a section of what you
earn to the King. These taxes are called Lord Taxes.
Lord Taxes are mildly costly, but it is your duty to give over one tenth of your
earnings to your liege, the King of Bretonnia. Therefore, for every 10 Revenue you
earn (weather or not you actually spend it), you must pay 1 Revenue to the King.
Regular payments on time to the King will result in a slow rise of King’s Favour (1%
per consecutive turn of payment).
Each turn, the player shall be informed of the Lord Tax that he owes for this turn’s
Revenue gain. It is completely up to the player weather or not he pays the Tax, but
prolonged failure to comply will result in the King taking measures to take back what
is his.
If your Revenue gains were 9 or less Revenue during a turn, no Lord’s Tax is needed
to be paid. In this case, the player is treated as if he had paid the Lord’s Tax (giving
him +1% King’s Favour).
Each time you do not pay the Lord Tax, the amount you did not pay is added to your
Debt to the King. You may chose to pay this Debt to the King at any time, as long as
you have the Revenue to do so. Each turn that passes, you will lose 1% King’s Favour
for every 10 Revenue that in are in Debt to the King by.
If your Debt to the King reduces your King’s Favour to 0% or below, the King has
become angry and sends out Knights and Marshals to collect the debt. Men-At-Arms
will not defend you from these Knights and Marshals. These Knights and Marshals
will take your lands from you to repay the debt. Knights and Marshals take Free Land
Squares first, followed by Fields, followed by Farmsteads, then Mines, then Markets,
and lastly Shelters. No matter what the Land Square held before it was taken, it
reduces your Debt to the King by 40 Revenue. If this should fully pay off the Debt to
the King, the rest of your lands are left alone. Should the sale of a Land Square
produce more Revenue than the Debt to the King itself (if the Debt to the King was
35 Revenue, and the Free Land Square that they took reduced the debt by 40 Revenue,
for example) then the King keeps the excess Revenue.
Finally, if the debt is too large to repay by selling off your Land Squares, or the debt
requires the sale of all of your Land Squares to repay, the player is removed from
power, taken prisoner by the King and is eliminated from the game.
Requesting Aid
Sometimes, times become so hard that the only way to avoid disaster is to ask for help
from the King of Bretonnia. These Requests may take the form of Men-At-Arms,
Revenue, Food Stocks or any combination of the three. It is up to the player how
much exactly the Request asks for. Large Requests are more likely to be denied than
small ones, however.
The more favourably the King looks upon your lord, the more chance that he will
grant your request. Roll 1d100 and add 1 for every 2 Men-At-Arms, 5 Revenue or 10
Food Stocks that the Request asks for. If the final total is equal to or less than the
player’s King’s Favour, the Request is accepted and the goods arrive next turn. If the
final total is greater than the player’s King’s Favour, the Request is denied and
nothing arrives.
Weather or not the Request is accepted or denied, the King’s Favour rating of the
Requesting player is halved (rounding down) once the decision of whether or not to
accept or deny the Request has been made.
Holy Festivals
Every Summer, the Harvest Day Festival is held, giving thanks to the Lady of the
Lake for a good harvest, or pleading for a better one next year. It is up to each player
how much Revenue (to hire entertainers and set up banners, and other things) and
Food Stocks (to offer as thanks to the Lady) he spends on the Harvest Day Festival.
Every 5 Revenue or 10 Food Stocks spent increases Faith by 1%.
Because Faith drops by 2% per turn (as listed in Statistics, see above), Faith will
slowly drop unless at least an average amount of Revenue and/or Food Stocks is spent
for the Harvest Day Festival.
As the Harvest Day Festival is the only regular chance to increase the Faith of your
subjects, it is a good idea to always hold at least a small Harvest Day Festival every
Summer.
The Blessing of the Lady
If the player and his subject’s Faith rating is 85% or above, a d6 must be rolled in
Summer, before it is decided how much Food Stocks each Field Square produces. On
a roll of 1, 2, 3 or 4, nothing happens. On a roll of 5 or 6, the Blessing of the Lady has
been bestowed upon the crops and fields of he lucky lord.
The Blessed lord may then re-roll each crop production roll twice, and use the highest
roll out of the three rolls made. This means there is a much higher chance of having a
high crop yield, which is very good, no matter how you look at it. Also, an estate
which has been gifted with the Blessing of the Lady will not lose Faith due to natural
Faith decline. People are faithful to gods who have shown them miracles!
Men-At-Arms
In the A Lord of Bretonnia game, your province lies on the borders of Bretonnia,
which is very dangerous territory, open to raids from Orcs, human brigands and many
others. It is therefore advisable to have a standing garrison of trained Men-At-Arms to
guard your realm from those who would do it harm.
It costs 2 Revenue to turn 1 Townsfolk into 1 Man-At-Arms, and the training takes 1
turn to complete. You may have as many Men-At-Arms as you like, but remember
that every 2 Men-At-Arms you have, require 1 Revenue per turn upkeep. Failure to
pay this upkeep will slowly disband your Men-At-Arms forces (with one quarter,
rounding up, of your men disbanding each turn you fail to pay the upkeep).
However, every mid-Summer, an annual gathering of fighting age men is called, so
the best of them may be chosen to strengthen the ranks of your garrison. Therefore, it
only costs 1 Townsfolk and 1 Revenue to train 1 Man-At-Arms in Summer, due to the
ease of finding the best fighters in the village at that time.
Men-At-Arms, armed with their weaponry as they are, give a sense of safety to the
population. For every 10 Men-At-Arms in your province, Subject’s Loyalty increases
by 1% per turn, to a maximum of 5% per turn.
Men-At-Arms guard against Orc attacks and Raids, which are Random Events.
Without a force of these warriors to protect your lands, you will lose Food Stocks,
Revenue, Townsfolk and more in Orc attacks and Raids. Men-At-Arms also attempt
to quell Revolts.
This game is only fan rules, and no challenge is intended to any of the rights of Games Workshop. As I said, these rules are merely fan rules. Enjoy!